Iceless vendor tray

ABSTRACT

An iceless vendor tray maintains the temperature of liquid in beverage containers in a container compartment of the iceless vendor tray. The iceless vendor tray has walls defined by an outer shell and inner shell with a cavity therebetween. The cavity has a coolant therein. The coolant will maintain the liquid at or below the desired temperature without the addition of ice or other cooling device in the container compartment.

BACKGROUND

Vendor tubs, or vendor trays which are also called hawker tubs are utilized to deliver cold drinks to patrons in entertainment venues such as sports stadiums. The vendor trays are generally rectangular shaped and are filled with ice and beverages so that cold beverages may be delivered to the patrons. In order to keep the beverages at a desirable temperature the vendor trays must be filled with ice which reduces the capacity of the tray to hold containers and increases the weight of the vendor tray.

SUMMARY

The current disclosure is directed to an iceless vendor tray. In one embodiment the iceless vendor tray has first and second end walls and first and second side walls defining a beverage container compartment sized to hold a plurality of beverage containers filled with a desired beverage. The iceless vendor tray will maintain the liquid beverage in the containers at a desired temperature for a desired amount of time without the addition of a cooling device, such as ice or cold packs, in the container compartment. The side walls, end walls and a bottom wall of the iceless vendor tray define a cavity therein. A coolant is disposed in the cavity.

In one embodiment the container compartment of the iceless vendor tray will hold at least twenty-four (24) full twelve (12) ounce beverage containers and will maintain liquid in the at least twenty-four (24) beverage containers at a temperature of less than 41° for a desired length of time without the placement of any cooling agents in the container compartment. The beverage containers may be cooled prior to placement in the container compartment so that the liquid is chilled but not frozen. For example beer in a container may be cooled to below 31°, to as low as 27° prior to placement in the container compartment. The container compartment may be sized to hold a desired number of beverage containers with a desired liquid capacity. For example different embodiments may be sized to hold as many as forty-two (42) beverage containers having a liquid capacity of sixteen (16) ounces.

In one embodiment an outer surface of least one of the first and second side walls is curved to provide a comfortable fit against the body of an operator, such as a vendor at a sports or other entertainment venue. The iceless vendor tray may have handles extending outwardly from the first and second end walls, and may have anchors at the end walls configured to connect to a carrying strap to be used by a vendor.

The iceless vendor tray will maintain the temperature of liquid in the beverage containers at a temperature of below 41° Fahrenheit for a desired amount of time, which is generally the time required to deliver all of the beverage containers in the container compartment to patrons in the entertainment venue. The iceless vendor tray described herein will maintain the temperature of liquid in the beverage containers at a temperature below 41° Fahrenheit in one embodiment for at least one hour, and for as much as four (4) or eight (8) hours.

In one embodiment an iceless vendor tray has a pair of opposed side walls and a pair of opposed end walls connected thereto to define a beverage container compartment sized to carry a desired number of beverage containers, for example at least twenty-four (24) twelve (12) ounce beverage containers. A coolant is placed in an interior space in the side walls and end walls. The coolant has qualities such that it will maintain the liquid in the beverage containers at the desired temperature, in one embodiment 41° Fahrenheit, for a desired amount of time.

The coolant comprises a gelatinous blend of amorphous natural high polymer carbohydrates and will maintain the liquid in the beverage containers at a temperature less than 41° for a desired amount of time without the placement of any cooling agents in the container compartment. The coolant may be placed in a containment bag in the interior space between the inner and outer shells.

A method of delivering beverages to patrons in seats at a sporting event may comprise placing a vendor tray with hollow outer walls in a freezer unit until a coolant in the hollow outer walls is chilled to a desired temperature. In one embodiment the method comprises placing the vendor tray in the freezer that will chill the coolant to less than 10° Fahrenheit, and in some embodiments to 0° Fahrenheit until the coolant at least partially freezes. The coolant may be chilled until it completely freezes. The method further comprises removing the vendor tray from the freezer unit and loading a container compartment defined by the outer walls with a desired number of beverage containers having a desired liquid capacity. In one embodiment at least twenty-four (24) full beverage containers having a liquid capacity of at least twelve (12) ounces are loaded. In other embodiments as many as forty-two (42) beverage containers with a capacity of twelve (12) or sixteen (16) ounces may be loaded into the container compartment.

The method further comprises carrying the loaded vendor tray into the seating area of the sporting or other entertainment event and delivering beverages to patrons in seats at a sporting or other entertainment event. The method may also comprise reloading the vendor tray with a plurality of beverage containers containing at least twelve (12) ounces of liquid prior to placing the vendor tray back into the freezer unit and delivering the beverage containers from the reloaded vendor tray to patrons in the sporting or other entertainment event venue. The method may include stacking not-in-use trays for storage by placing a lower end of a not-in use vendor tray into the open upper end of another not-in-use vendor tray.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an iceless vendor tray.

FIG. 2 is the iceless vendor tray with a plurality of beverage containers therein.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the iceless vendor tray with additional beverage containers therein.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the iceless vendor tray of the current disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a side view looking at a curved side of the iceless vendor tray.

FIG. 6 is a cross section taken from line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a top view looking down into an iceless vendor tray that includes can positioners extending from the bottom thereof.

FIG. 8 is a section view from line 7-7 of FIG. 7 rotated 90°.

FIG. 9 is a view of the iceless vendor tray of FIG. 7 with a portion cut away to show beverage containers positioned in line in the vendor tray.

FIG. 10 is a cross section showing a pair of iceless vendor trays stacked for storage.

FIG. 11 is a schematic of a stadium vendor carrying a vendor tray.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT

Iceless vendor tray 10 comprises a pair of opposed end walls 15 which include a first end wall 20 and a second end wall 22. Opposed side walls 24 include a first side wall 26 and a second side wall 28. End walls 15 and side walls 24 are connected to one another at rounded corners 30. End walls 15 and side walls 24 are connected to a bottom wall 32 at the lower end thereof. Iceless vendor tray 10 has upper edge 33.

Iceless vendor tray 10 is an upwardly opening iceless vendor tray 10 such that the opposed end walls 15 and opposed side walls 24 define a beverage container compartment 34 with upper opening 36 into which beverage containers 35 with a desired beverage therein may be placed. The iceless vendor tray 10 is sized such the container compartment 34 will hold a plurality of beverage containers 35 filled with liquid. In one embodiment the iceless vendor tray 10 may be sized to carry at least twenty-four (24) filled twelve (12) ounce beverage containers. The iceless vendor tray 10 may likewise be sized to carry at least thirty-six (36) or as many as forty-two (42) beverage containers. The beverage containers may be twelve (12) ounce or sixteen (16) ounce beverage containers filled with a desired beverage such as for example soda, beer, water or other beverage. FIG. 2 shows an example of the iceless vendor tray with thirty (30) sixteen ounce cans placed right side up on the bottom 32 of the iceless vendor tray 10. FIG. 3 shows the vendor tray with an additional twelve (12) sixteen ounce beverage cans on top of the thirty (30) cans for a total of forty-two (42) sixteen (16) ounce cans of beverage.

Iceless vendor tray 10 may include a pair of handles 44 which may comprise a first handle 46 and a second handle 48. The handles 44 may be contoured under-grip handles configured to be gripped by an operator 52, for example a stadium vendor 52 as schematically depicted in FIG. 11, carrying the iceless vendor tray 10. The contoured handles may be reinforced and may include an anchor 50 configured to allow a carrying harness or strap to be connected thereto. Carrying strap 54 may be utilized by the operator carrying the iceless vendor tray 10 to deliver beverages in an entertainment venue, such as for example a sporting event stadium. FIG. 11 shows an operator 52 with strap 54 which may be placed around the neck and shoulder area and/or the mid-section of the operator 52.

Iceless vendor tray 10 is comprised of an inner shell 60 and an outer shell 62. Thus end walls 15, side walls 20 and bottom wall 32 are all comprised of inner shell 60 and outer shell 62. A cavity 64 or interior space 64 is defined by and between inner and outer shells 60 and 62, respectively. Interior space 64 is filled with a coolant 65 capable of maintaining the liquid in beverage containers 35 positioned in the iceless vendor tray 10 at a desired temperature for a desired amount of time. For example liquid in the beverage containers 35 will be maintained below 41° Fahrenheit for desired periods of time without placement of any cooling agents, such as for example ice, ice packs, cold packs or other cooling agent. Generally, a full vendor tray 10 will be emptied in less than an hour. The vendor tray 10 will maintain liquid in beverage containers 35 placed therein for that period of time, and much longer. There is no need for ice, cold packs or other cooling agents in container compartment 34. As a result the weight of vendor tray 10 is decreased, and more beverage containers 35 may be placed in container compartment 34, since there is no ice to take up space in container compartment 34.

For example, the forty-two (42) sixteen (16) ounce cans shown in FIG. 3 are in a vendor tray 10 with the following dimensions 12.75 inches wide by 15.75 inches long by 10.5 inches deep. The placement of ice or other cooling device in container compartment 34 would reduce the number of beverage cans 35 that could be placed therein. No ice, cold packs or other cooling device or agent that might otherwise be utilized is needed with the iceless tray 10. The coolant 65 in cavity 64 will maintain the liquid in the beverage containers 35 at the desired temperature of less than 41° for the time required to dispense the beverage containers 35 to patrons at for example a sports entertainment venue.

In some embodiments the iceless vendor tray 10 will maintain liquid in beverage containers 35 at the desired temperature of less than 41° for at least one hour. In other embodiments the liquid may be maintained at less than 41° for at least four (4) hours, and in other embodiments for at least eight (8) hours. The coolant in cavity 64 may comprise a refreezable/rechillable gelatinous material. The gelatinous material may be positioned in cavity 64 between inner shell 60 and outer shell 62 at end walls 15, side walls 24, and bottom wall 32 or any combination of the foregoing. The gelatinous material is a slow-to-freeze, slow-to-thaw material and is preferably a blend of amorphous natural high-polymer carbohydrates comprising long chains of glucose rings hooked together by oxygen bridges containing the univalent group OH. A highly enzymatic resistance in the final formulation of the gelatinous material is desirable.

To prevent leakage of the gelatinous material and damage to the iceless vendor tray 10, the gelatinous material may be kept within a bag (not shown) or other containment device within the cavity 64 defined by the inner and outer shells 60 and 62. The iceless vendor tray 10 may include an insulation layer 67 adjacent the outer shell 62. The insulation layer 67 may be a closed-cell plastic foam, for example, closed-cell polyethylene.

Inner and outer shells 60 and 62 may be molded separately and joined together to create an integral coupling at the inner and outer shells 60 and 62 respectively. Inner and outer shells 60 and 62 may be fitted together via snap fitting or other methods such that a seal, preferably a hermetic seal, between inner shell 60 and outer shell 62 is achieved.

The inner and outer shells 60 and 62 of iceless vendor tray 10 in one embodiment are made from a plastic material. For example the inner and outer shells 60 and 62 in one embodiment may comprise polypropylene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), or any plastic or composite material safe for coming into contact with items intended for human consumption. In one embodiment both the inner shell 60 and outer shell 62 may be made of clarified ABS or other transparent material such that the gelatinous material is visually observable.

Iceless vendor tray 10 has an outer surface 68 which is an outer surface of the outer shell 62. Outer surface 68 defines a contoured or curved outer surface on at least one of side walls 26 and 28. In the described embodiment outer surface 68 at side wall 26 is curved. The curved outer surface will provide a comfortable placement for the vendor tray 10 on the midsection of an operator carrying the iceless vendor tray 10.

Outer surface 68 is stepped and has an upper portion 70 and a lower portion 72. Lower portion 72 is inset from upper portion 70 around a periphery 73 of iceless vendor tray 10. A shoulder 74 is defined by and between upper portion 70 and lower portion 72. Iceless vendor tray 10 is a stackable tray as shown in FIG. 10. Shoulder 74 of iceless vendor tray 10 rests on the upper end 33 of a vendor tray 10 therebelow.

In operation the vendor tray 10 will be placed in a freezer until the coolant 65 reaches a desired temperature or has frozen sufficiently such that it will maintain liquid in beverage containers 35 in the iceless vendor tray 10 at a desired temperature. In one embodiment the empty vendor tray 10 is placed in a freezer for the time required to freeze the coolant which may be for example eight (8) hours. Once the coolant 65 has frozen, or reached the desired temperature a plurality of beverage cans 35 of a desired beverage and desired size are placed in the container compartment 34 of the iceless vendor tray 10. The liquid in the beverage containers 35 will generally be cooled to a temperature below 41° prior to placement in container compartment 34. In one embodiment as many as forty-two (42) sixteen (16) ounce beverage containers 35 filled with the desired beverage may be placed in the container compartment 34 and may be maintained at a temperature of less than 41° without the placement of any cooling agent in the container compartment 34 for a period sufficient to allow all of the beverage containers 35 to be distributed to patrons in a sports entertainment venue. The liquid in the beverage containers 35 may be chilled but not frozen prior to placement in the container compartment 34. For example beer may be chilled to a temperature of less than 30° prior to placement in container compartment 34. That time period may be as much as an hour and in some cases as much as four hours but in all likelihood will only be several minutes. The method may further comprise carrying the loaded vendor tray 10 into the seating area of the sporting event venue either by holding the handles 44 or by utilizing the carrier strap 54. The cooled beverage containers 35 are delivered to patrons in the sports entertainment venue.

Once the vendor tray 10 is empty the container compartment 34 can be reloaded with additional pre-cooled beverage containers 35 having liquid therein that will likewise be maintained at the desired temperature of less than 41°. Beverage containers 35 from the reloaded vendor tray may be again delivered to patrons in the sporting event venue. The iceless vendor tray 10 can be reloaded with precooled beverage containers 35 without the need for placing the iceless vendor tray back in a freezer to rechill, or refreeze coolant 35 at least once and likely several times.

In an additional embodiment shown in FIG. 7 an iceless vendor tray 80 may have a plurality of can positioners or spacers 82 extending upwardly from a bottom 84 thereof. As shown in the cross section of FIG. 9, beverage containers 35 may be positioned upright between spacers 82 or may be placed horizontally and will be held in place. Utilization of the spacers 82 allows exact positioning of the beverage containers 35 and prevents beverage containers from rolling about.

The spacers 82 are an optional feature. Spacers 82 are hollow, and may be shaped as desired to enable organized positioning. In one embodiment the spacers may be pyramid shape with curved sides. Spacers 82 are hollow. Other than the addition of spacers 82, vendor tray 80 is generally identical to vendor tray 10.

As an example, in one cold retention test forty-two (42) sixteen (16) ounce cans of cold beer were placed in an iceless vendor tray 10 as described herein. Temperature probes were placed in cans at three different locations identified with the letter P with the subscripts 1, 2 or 3 on FIG. 2, which correspond to the probes one (1), two (2) and three (3) in the table below. The probes were placed in one can near the center, one can on the side and one can in the corner of iceless vender tray 10. The test was run after the iceless vendor tray had been placed in a freezer for 10 hours. The cans of beer were likewise chilled prior to placement in the container compartment of the iceless vendor tray. The iceless tray 10 was placed at room temperature of around 71° F., and the temperature of the liquid was recorded in 5 minute intervals.

The results of the tests are shown in the table below.

Results: Probe #1 Probe #2 Probe #3 Starting Temp. 28° F. 28° F. 28° F. Min/Hours Temp. Temp. Temp.  5 27° 27° 27° 10 27° 27° 27° 15 27° 27° 27° 20 27° 27° 27° 25 27° 27° 27° 30 27° 27° 27° 35 28° 27° 27° 40 28° 28° 27° 45 28° 28° 28° 50 28° 29° 28° 55 28° 29° 28° 1 HR 28° 29° 28°  5 29° 29° 28° 10 29° 29° 29° 15 29° 29° 29° 20 29° 30° 29° 25 30° 30° 29° 30 30° 30° 30° 35 30° 30° 30° 40 30° 30° 30° 45 30° 31° 30° 50 30° 31° 30° 55 30° 32° 30° 2 HR 31° 32° 30°  5 31° 32° 30° 10 31° 32° 30° 15 31° 32° 31° 20 32° 32° 31° 25 32° 32° 31° 30 32° 33° 32° 35 32° 33° 32° 40 32° 33° 32° 45 32° 33° 32° 50 32° 33° 32° 55 32° 33° 32° 3 HR 33° 33° 32°  5 33° 33° 32° 10 33° 33° 33° 15 34° 34° 33° 20 34° 34° 33° 25 34° 34° 33° 30 34° 34° 33° 35 34° 34° 33° 40 35° 34° 33° 45 35° 34° 33° 50 35° 35° 33° 55 35° 35° 33° 4 HR 35° 35° 34°  5 35° 35° 34° 10 35° 35° 34° 15 35° 35° 34° 20 36° 35° 34° 25 36° 35° 34° 30 36° 35° 34° 35 36° 35° 35° 40 36° 35° 35° 45 36° 35° 35° 50 36° 35° 35° 55 36° 35° 35° 5 HR 37° 36° 35°  5 37° 36° 35° 10 37° 36° 35° 15 37° 36° 35° 20 38° 36° 35° 25 38° 36° 35° 30 38° 36° 35° 35 38° 36° 35° 40 38° 36° 35° 45 38° 36° 35° 50 38° 36° 36° 55 39° 36° 36° 6 HR 39° 36° 36°  5 39° 36° 36° 10 39° 36° 36° 15 39° 36° 36° 20 39° 36° 36° 25 39° 36° 36° 30 39° 36° 36° 35 39° 36° 36° 40 39° 36° 37° 45 40° 36° 37° 50 40° 36° 37° 55 40° 36° 37° 7 HR 40° 36° 37°  5 40° 36° 37° 10 40° 36° 37° 15 40° 36° 37° 20 41° 36° 37° 25 41° 36° 37° 30 41° 36° 38° 35 42° 36° 38° 40 42° 36° 38° 45 42° 36° 38° 50 42° 36° 38° 55 42° 36° 38° 8 HR 43° 37° 39°  5 43° 37° 39° 10 43° 37° 39° 15 43° 37° 39° 20 43° 37° 39° 25 43° 38° 39° 30 43° 38° 40° 35 44° 38° 40° 40 45° 38° 40° 45 45° 38° 40° 50 45° 38° 40° 55 45° 38° 41° 9 HR 45° 38° 41°  5 45° 38° 41° 10 45° 38° 41° 15 46° 38° 42° 20 46° 38° 42° 25 46° 38° 42° 30 46° 38° 42° 35 46° 38° 42° 40 47° 39° 43° 45 47° 39° 43° 50 48° 39° 43° 55 48° 39° 43° 10 HR  48° 39° 43°  5 48° 40° 44° 10 48° 40° 44° 15 48° 40° 44° 20 48° 40° 45° 25 48° 40° 45° 30 49° 40° 45° 35 49° 40° 45° 40 49° 41° 45° 45 49° 41° 45° 50 49° 42° 45° 55 50° 42° 46° 11 HR  50° 42° 46°

Thus, it is seen that the apparatus and methods of the present invention readily achieve the ends and advantages mentioned as well as those inherent therein. While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described for purposes of the present disclosure, numerous changes in the arrangement and construction of parts and steps may be made by those skilled in the art, which changes are encompassed within the scope and spirit of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An iceless vendor tray comprising: first and second end walls and first and second side walls defining a beverage container compartment sized to hold at least twenty-four (24) full twelve-ounce beverage containers, the first and second side walls and first and second end walls comprising an inner shell and an outer shell joined to the inner shell, the inner and outer shells defining a cavity therebetween; and a coolant in the cavity, wherein the vendor tray will maintain liquid in the at least twenty-four (24) beverage containers at a temperature of less than 41° for a desired length of time without the placement of any cooling agents in the container compartment, wherein an outer surface of least one of the first and second side walls is curved.
 2. The iceless vendor tray of claim 1 further comprising gripping handles extending outwardly from the first and second end wells.
 3. The iceless vendor tray of claim 1 further comprising an anchor configured to connect to a carrying strap extending from the first and second end walls.
 4. The iceless vendor tray of claim 1, wherein the vendor tray will maintain the temperature of liquid in the beverage containers at a temperature of less than 41° for a least one hour.
 5. The iceless vendor tray of claim 1, wherein the vendor tray will maintain the temperature of liquid in the beverage containers at a temperature of less than 41° for at least four (4) hours.
 6. An iceless vendor tray comprising: a pair of opposed side walls; a pair of opposed end walls connected to the pair of opposed side walls and defining a beverage container compartment sized to carry at least twenty-four (24) twelve (12) oz. beverage containers; a coolant placed in an interior space in the side walls and end walls; and a carrying handle extending from both of the pairs of end walls.
 7. The iceless vendor tray of claim 6 wherein at least one of the side walls has a curved outer surface.
 8. The iceless vendor tray of claim 7, wherein the outer surface is a concave outer surface.
 9. The iceless vendor tray of claim 6 wherein the coolant comprises a gelatinous blend of amorphous natural high-polymer carbohydrates.
 10. The iceless vendor tray of claim 6, wherein the coolant will maintain the liquid in the beverage containers at a temperature of 41° or less for a desired amount of time without the placement of any cooling agents in the container compartment.
 11. The iceless vendor tray of claim 6, further comprising: an anchor attached to each of the end walls; and a carrying strap connected to the anchor, the carrying strap configured to be placed on the neck and shoulder area of an operator carrying the iceless vendor tray.
 12. The iceless vendor tray of claim 6, wherein the coolant is disposed in a contaminant bag.
 13. A method of delivering beverages to patrons in seats at a sporting event comprising: placing a vendor tray with hollow outer walls in a freezer unit until a coolant in the hollow outer walls is at least partially frozen; removing the vendor tray from the freezer unit; loading a container compartment defined by the outer walls with at least twenty-four (24) full beverage containers having a liquid capacity of at least twelve (12) ounces; and carrying the loaded vendor tray into the seating area of the sporting event.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising delivering cooled beverage containers to the patrons.
 15. The method of claim 13 further comprising reloading the vendor tray with a plurality of beverage containers containing at least twelve (12) ounces of liquid prior to placing the vendor tray back into the freezer unit and delivering the beverage containers from the reloaded vendor tray to patrons in the sporting event venue.
 16. The method of claim 13 further comprising positioning a curved outer wall adjacent an operator carrying the vendor tray.
 17. The method of claim 13 further comprising stacking not-in-use trays for storage by placing a lower end of a not-in use vendor tray into the open upper end of another not-in-use vendor tray.
 18. The method of claim 13 wherein the vendor tray is placed in the freezer until the coolant at least partially freezes.
 19. The method of claim 13 comprising placing at least thirty (30) beverage containers with a liquid capacity of sixteen (16) ounces in the vendor tray and delivering the beverage containers to patrons in the entertainment venue.
 20. The method of claim 13 wherein the coolant comprises a freezable gel. 